Swallow-tail fish lure

ABSTRACT

A fish lure is disclosed to comprise a body portion having a forwardly located downturned head portion, a bifurcated, swallowtail, trailing portion all being formed of a single piece of sheet material and all arranged symmetrically along the longitudinal axis of the lure. In the preferred form the swallowtail divergent portions are rotated relative the lure&#39;&#39;s axis so that the inner edges are lower than the respective outer edges. This abstract is neither intended to define nor to delimit the invention in any way.

United States Patent Appl. No.: 265,587

US. Cl. 43/415 [5 l] Int. Cl A0lk 85/00 [581 Field of Search 43/425 [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Dl93,789 lO/l962 Elrod 43/425 UX2,51 L002 6/1950 Perry 43/42.S 2,758,408 8/1956 Murphy et al 43 425 xDl72,8l4 8/1954 Bayer 43/425 X Bainton Oct. 2, 1973 SWALLOW-TAIL FISHLURE [76] Inventor: Byron L. Bainton, 360 Taylor Ave Pr'mary Exammer H1gh Chamblee Remon was 98055 Att0rneyFord E. Smith [22] Filed: June 23,H72

[57] ABSTRACT A fish lure is disclosed to comprise a body portion havinga forwardly located downturned head portion, a bifurcated, swallow-tail,trailing portion all being formed of a single piece of sheet materialand all arranged symmetrically along the longitudinal axis of the lure.In the preferred form the swallow-tail divergent portions are rotatedrelative the lures axis so that the inner edges are lower than therespective outer edges. This abstract is neither intended to define norto delimit the invention in any way.

2 Claims, ll Drawing Figures 1 SWALLOW-T-AIL FISH LURE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The lures of this invention areintended for use in attracting a wide number of species of game fish andin particular trout, salmon and the like, as well as bass, perch,crappie and such fish. The lures of this invention, while usually usedin trolling operations, likewise lend themselves to being cast out andretrieved in stream and pond fishing.

2. Description of the Known Prior Art A search developed somewhatpertinent prior art, namely: Sabin, US. Pat. No. 2,238,604 of April1941; Marino, US. Pat. No. 3,432,957 of March 1969; Bianco US Pat. No.3,497,986 of March 1970; Rustowicz U.S. Pat. No. 3,487,576 of January1970 (not 1670 as appears on the patent); and Ogletree US. Pat. No. De190,427 of May 1961. The lures of these patents are considered onlysimilar in very general respects and they lack specific features alludedto in the abstract and more fully described structurally andfunctionally in the following detailed description of the invention andas claimed thereafter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is designed to provide thefisherman with a multitude of luring actions which may be obtained byvariously attaching the fishing line to the lure at one of severalpositions provided in the lure as sup plied. By reason of the combinedarrangement of the various essential parts and, further, by reason ofvariances in their shapes, angular dispositions relative each other andtheir relative porportion, this lure provides several very distinctiveand fish-attractive actions in moving through water. These severalactions involve swimming, rolling-swimming, lateral darting, spinning,ducking, wobbling and in all respects a very lifelike reproduction of abait fish in the water. This lure is of one piece of material and ispreferably formed of sheet metal or molded plastic. The shapes andcontours of the essential portions of the lure are symmetrical relativethe longitudinalaxis of the lure. The lure of this invention lendsitself well to mass production by conventional blanking and formingsteps in which are employed conventional tools and tooling practices.Hence, this lure may be inexpensively manufactured. Naturally, such alure is desirably manufactured in a range of sizes and weights. In someinstances, the form and the relative proportion of the various essentialelements comprising the one-piece lure may be individu ally orcollectively varied whereby iui'es having the same structural andoperational features but looking different from each other are produced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a typical lure according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the lure of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the lure of FIG.

FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are, respectively, transverse sectional viewstaken in the plane's indicated by lines 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, and 8-8 ofFIG. 1, all having been rotated and as viewed from the right toward theleft;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of a lure similar to that of FIG. 1 butshowing a modification as to shape;

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of a substantially different modification ofthe lure of this invention; and

FIG. 11 is a transverse sectional view taken in the plane of lines 11-11of FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred embodiment of thelure of this invention is mainly shown in FIGS. 1 through 8. Itessentially comprises the body portion 20 having a down-turned headportion 22 located forwardly thereof and a bifurcated, swallow-tail,trailing portion 24 therebehind as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The bodyportion 20 is mainly flat from about the bend 26 which is the juncturebetween body 20 and head 22, and rearward therefrom to the beginning ofa valley 28 as indicated in FIG. 1. The head portion 22 is alsosubstantially planar ahead of juncture 26 and, on the underside withbody 20, forms an obtuse angle as shown in FIG. 2. In this preferredform of the invention the body 20 has a waist 30 about mid-way of itslength. Behind the waist 30 the main body of the lure tends to flare orswell and merge smoothly into the marginal contours of the trailingportion 24.

It will be noted that the essential portions of the lure comprising thebody 20, the head 22 and the trailing portion 24 are allarrangedsymmetrically of the longitudinal axis of the lure.

Head portion 22 has an aperture 32 at its foremost' end. Risingtherebehind is fin 34 which has a tongue 36 provided with an aperture38. Tongue 36 passes through a slot 40 of head 22 and is secured inplace by a keeper link 42. Pin 34 has apertures 44, 46 and 48 arrayedtherein. As shown in FIG. 2, a clasp 50 of conventional design attachedto fishing line 52 is engaged in the selected aperture 46.

The trailing portion 24 is generally down-turned behind body 20 and hasa concavo-convex shape in the nature of a valley 28 extending rearwardto the point of bifurcation 72 of the trailing portion thus producingthe swallow-tail shape comprising the bifurcations or divergent portions64 and 66 on each side of the longitudinal axis. The outer ends of theportions 64, 66 are rotated about themselves, portion 64 being turned ortwisted in a counter-clockwise direction relative 'the longitudinal axisof the lure and portion 66 in a clockwise direction relative the sameaxis.

The result of the formation of the valley 28 and of the rotationalshaping of divergent portions 64 and 66 is that the lure at its outeredges 65 and 67 is higher than at the respective inner edges 68 and 69of the divergent portions 64, 66. The provision of the intermediatelongitudinal extending valley 28, and this twist-shaping of thedivergent portions of the swallow-tail trailing portion produce effectswhen the lure is drawn through the water that surprisingly are extremelylifelike and ap pear to be very attractive to game fish.

It will be noted from FIG. 2 that the side elevational view of the lureis extremely suggestive of the side profile view of recently and widelydiscussed designs of SST aircraft, inherently stable.

The effect of drawing this lure through the water can only be accuratelydescribed bearing in mind differences in the speed of draft in the waterand where the line is attached to the lure.

The attachment of a hook 70 at the rear of the lure is preferablyarranged to be slightly ahead of the apex 72 in the fork formed by thedivergent portions 64 and 66. An eye 74 depends on the lower side of therear portion 24 of the lure and, as shown throughout the drawings, hasshank 76 provided with head 78 which secures the eye in place. A splitring coupling 80 joins with the eye 71 of hook 70 thereby attaching thehook to the lure.

Referring to FIG. 9 the lure is in many respects quite similar to thatof FIG. 1 having a head portion 22, a waisted body portion 20, and thetrailing portion 24 which has prominent shoulders 25 at either side. In

FIG. 9 the divergent portion 64 and 66 terminate with rounded ends 80slightly different both in shape and in function as compared with thesquared-off ends 82 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The lure of FIG. 9 has thevalley previously described and the divergent portions 64 and 66 arerotated about themselves, respectively counterclockwise and clockwise,with regard to the longitudinal axis of the lure of FIG. 9.

With reference to the lure shown in FIG. 10, the body is with proportionto the head 22 and the trailing portion 24 considerably elongated.Likewise, the trailing portion is longer than shown than in the otherforms of the lure. Valley 28 is more abrupt or veed as shown in thecross section of FIG. 11. The divergent trailing element 64 and 66 areas previously described and the nose portion 22 is down-turned insimilar manner to that described.

In both FIGS. 9 and 10, a series of holes is shown in the forward partof the lure for the purpose of attaching the lure variously to atrolling line. In these forms the fin 34 has been omitted and it will beunderstood that either a split ring will be used to affect theattachment or a swivelled eye of conventional nature would be supplied.

This lure in its various configurations as shown in the drawings may bemanufactured of either sheet metal or strong durable sheet plasticmaterial. Naturally, the metal lures will be produced by blanking andstamping operations using suitable dies. The plastic lures may likewisebe blanked by the use of a die and ordinarily will be shaped byheat-forming processes well known in the art. Wtih respect to thickness,this should be sufficient that the necessary strength and rigiditycharacteristics are supplied to the lure to prevent it beingbent orbroken during either fishing or fighting a fish that may be hooked.There are available plastic sheet materials of extremely light weighthaving a specific gravity less than water. It is contemplated thatcertain models of the herein disclosed lure will be formed of such lightweight plastic that it would float. In such instance when it is drawnthrough the water the down-turned nose portion 22 functions as a planeand the lure tends to duck somewhat below the surface as it isretrieved.

When the fishing line by means of the clasp 50 is attached at the hole46 in fin 34 the action of the lure in the water is something like aswimming action in that the lure tends to move from side to side in agenerally horizontal position with the top of the lure visible to thefisherman. This is considered one of the most desirable actions andprobably affords the main action. By attaching the clasp to the lure athole 48 a separate and distinctive action is obtained in which the luretends to roll and at the same time to swim sideways as it is retrievedor trolled. With the line attached to the nose opening 32 at the veryfront of the head portion 22, the lure has a turning and wobblingmotion, at the same time twisting from side to side. A fourth action isobtained by attaching the line to the opening 38 on the underside of thehead portion 22 of the lure. With this arrangement the lure has aspinning action in that it tends to revolve around and around.

All of the foregoing actions are essentially produced by the combinationof the relatively flat intermediate body portion 20, the substantiallyflat down-turned nose portion 22 and the trailing portion 24 having itsconcave-convex valley 28 ending with the divergent, swallow-tail portionin which the individual divergent members are twisted or rotated as hasbeen described. These parts appear to contribute stability to the lureas it moves through the water or the water moves relative it. By themeans of the various hook-ups swimming, ducking, bobbing, wobbling,rolling, twisting, turning and similar actions may be produced tosimulate in a realistic manner the evasive movement of a bait fish.

All of the characteristics described herein have made this lure anextremelyeffective one in attracting both the fish and the fisherman,its extreme simplicity making it possible to manufacture this lure andsell it at a price well within the range of the fisherman who, afterall, is the primary object of this attractive lure. It will be apparentthat the preferred embodiment and the modifications illustrated anddescribed herein are well calculated to fullfil the above-stated object.It will be appreciated that the lure of this invention is susceptible toother modifications, variations and changes. All such as fall within thespirit of the subjoined claims are considered a part of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A one-piece fish lure of sheet material of uniform thickness,comprising:

a body portion having a downturned head portion on its leading end and adownturned trailing portion therebehind;

said body, head and trailing portions being arranged symmetrically ofthe longitudinal axis of the lure;

said head portion being flat and on its underside forming an obtuseangle with said body;

line-receiving means comprising an upstanding fin carried by said headand body portions in straddling relation to the junction therebetween;

said downturned trailing portion being bifurcated in the shape of aswallow-tail; and

hook-receiving means carried on the underside of said lure to the rearof said line-receiving means.

2. A lure according to claim 1 in which each divergent portion of saidswallowtail has been rotated relative the longitudinal axis of the lureso that each outer edge of a divergent portion is higher than therespective inner edge of said divergent portion.

1. A one-piece fish lure of sheet material of uniform thickness,comprising: a body portion having a downturned head portion on itsleading end and a downturned trailing portion therebehind; said body,head and trailing portions being arranged symmetrically of thelongitudinal axis of the lure; said head portion being flat and on itsunderside forming an obtuse angle with said body; line-receiving meanscomprising an upstanding fin carried by said head and body portions instraddling relation to the junction therebetween; said downturnedtrailing portion being bifurcated in the shape of a swallow-tail; andhook-receiving means carried on the underside of said lure to the rearof said line-receiving means.
 2. A lure according to claim 1 in whicheach divergent portion of said swallow-tail has been rotated relativethe longitudinal axis of the lure so that each outer edge of a divergentportion is higher than the respective inner edge of said divergentportion.